15 Of The Richest Former Nickelodeon Stars

There’s no denying the fact that a stint on a Nickelodeon or Disney show generally leads to bigger and better things for young upstarts in entertainment. A young star starting out on a show on either network and having that gig blossom into a multifaceted career that involves modeling, music, and acting is actually pretty common. This generally seems to work better for the females on the networks, but it isn’t entirely unheard of for the male stars to go on and do bigger things after their time with the media giants. Many complain that this level of fame is too much for the young stars of these networks and tends to lead to a downward spiral, but if you step away from the gossip rags, the “fallen child actor” that loses their grip on reality is not actually the norm. In fact, only one star on our entire list has had serious issues after their fame began to wane. However, even that individual appears to have been able to maintain their financial security.

While Disney is more known for creating the new “It” celebrity from the ground up, Nickelodeon has produced more than their fair share as well. Let’s take a look at how these former Nickelodeon stars have held up financially since their departure from the network. Some of them may surprise you.

15.Kel Mitchell – Net Worth: $3.5 Million

During his time on Nickelodeon, Kel became one of their most popular stars with his roles on All That, Kenan and Kel, and the Good Burger film. Mitchell hasn’t been as in the public eye as other former Nickelodeon stars, but he has maintained quite a fan base due to his voice work in animation and his family friendly and clean brand of comedy.

14.Amanda Bynes – Net Worth: $4 million

Bynes saw a lot of success on Nickelodeon after her time as a regular performer on the sketch series All That led to her very own show called The Amanda Show. After her time on Nickelodeon, Bynes saw a lot of success on both film and on television with another popular series called What I Like About You. Unfortunately, Bynes seems to have hit some hard times as of late and a comeback doesn’t appear to be in sight anytime soon. How long she can hang on to her finances is totally up in the air.

13.Dave Coulier – Net Worth: $4 Million

Yep! The Full House alumni had early beginnings on Nickelodeon. One of his first acting gigs was as the host of the mock talk show Out of Control. It’s not an oft remembered Nickelodeon program, but we’re fairly certain that Coulier remembers his routes.

12.Jamie Lynn Spears – Net Worth: $5 Million

Jamie Lynn Spears, sister to Britney Spears, was a regular performer on the sketch series All That and then had a hit on her hands with her Nickelodeon show Zoey 101. Unfortunately a teen pregnancy kept the performer from continuing on with her show. Despite leaving the spotlight, Spears seems to have been able to keep her finances in order.

11.Kenan Thompson – Net Worth: $5 Million

Kenan had a wonderful time on Nickelodeon. He spent a number of seasons on the sketch comedy series All That, starred in the Nickelodeon film Good Burger with his best friend, and then was given his own sit-com on the network with partner in comedy Kel Mitchell. Thompson would go back to his sketch comedy roots and land his dream job as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Thompson has been on the series for several seasons and it was reported that Lorne Michaels allegedly begged Thompson to stay on for one more season.

10.Miranda Cosgrove – Net Worth: $7 Million

After wrapping up in 2012 after 5 years on the air, Cosgrove starred on one of the biggest hits on Nickelodeon, possibly ever, with the series iCarly. iCarly is a sit-com about a girl that films a popular internet TV show out of her bedroom. Cosgrove also became an “It Girl” during her time on the network, as her career also branched into music.

9.Keke Palmer – Net Worth: $7.5 Million

Palmer got her biggest break in the film Akeelah and the Bee, a critically acclaimed film that won a number of wards. However, her time with Nickelodeon on the series True Jackson, VP is probably most responsible for her transformation into an actress/musician/model. Since leaving Nick, Keke has taken on roles on 90210 and Masters of Sex. This is probably an attempt to show some versatility outside of a squeeky-clean Nickelodeon image.

8.Michelle Trachtenberg – Net Worth: $8 Million

Trachtenberg has had a very steady career in film and television, but fans of The Adventures of Pete and Pete will always know her best as Little Pete’s neighbor and best friend, Nona F. Mecklenberg. If you know your music, you may have noticed that Iggy Pop played her father in a number of episodes.

In addition to Pete and Pete, Trachtenberg stared as Harriet in Nickelodeon’s very first feature film Harriet the Spy.

7.JoAnna Garcia Swisher – Net Worth: $8 Million

JoAnna Garcia may be the only one on the list you don’t readily recognize now, nor could you name which Nickelodeon series she had her roots in.

JoAnna played Sam, a member of The Midnight Society on the horror anthology series Are You Afraid of the Dark?. She has gone on to have roles in a veritable plethora of popular television series such as Reba, Freaks and Geeks, Gossip Girl, and Once Upon A Time.

6.Victoria Justice – Net Worth: $8 Million

Victoria Justice is one of the “It Girls” that has come out of the network. After her show VicTORIous wrapped up, Justice has seen success as both a musician and as a film star. Most recently, MTV picked up the pilot for the series Eye Candy in which Justice stars.

On top of her creative endeavors, Justice is also known for her philanthropy.

5.Ariana Grande – Net Worth: $10 Million

Grande started her career as a singer but didn’t obtain huge popularity as a musician until her roles on the Nickelodeon programs VicTORIous and Sam and Kat spring-boarded her music career to new heights. In 2013 her album Yours Truly debuted on the billboard charts at Number 1.

4.Christine Taylor – Net Worth: $12 Million

Christine Taylor has had an excellent career after Nickelodeon’s sitcom about teens working on a Dude Ranch (Hey Dude!) wrapped up after five seasons on the air. She’s gone on to star in huge film hits like Zoolander, Tropic Thunder, and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Taylor also landed roles in television series as prolific as Seinfeld and Arrested Development.

Taylor may not be at the top of the list, but she definitely has the most impressive resume.

3.Melissa Joan Hart – Net Worth: $15 million

Who could forget Melissa Joan Hart as Clarissa Darling of Clarissa Explains It All? Hart’s popularity soared after leaving the network when she landed the lead role in ABC’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch. She tried to make the jump to film but for some reason it didn’t quite catch on. No matter. Her career in television has remained consistent as she seems to still have a great relationship with ABC on the ABC Family channel.

2.Seth Green – Net Worth: $20 Million

Here’s an actor that many people may not realize had some beginnings on Nickelodeon. Granted Seth Green was already semi-popular from his role as Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we shouldn’t ignore the fact that before Family Guy and Robot Chicken Seth played the titular character of the show 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, a bully that was transformed into a dog until he performed 100 good deeds. Green played the human version of Eddie for the first season, with the role being passed on to another actor once Green moved on to other things.

1.Alanis Morissette – Net Worth: $45 Million

It might surprise some folks that Alanis did indeed have her start on Nickelodeon. It was way back in the early days of the network on a little show called You Can’t Do That On Television. The show featured a good degree of irreverent humor via comedy sketches and host segments performed by a cast of young actors.

You Can’t Do That On Television is the program that made Nickelodeon synonymous with green slime; anytime a cast member said the words “I don’t know”, green slime would fall from off camera and completely drench the actor.